The old elevator shakes as it lowers down into the familiar town of Polar Growth, and on it, a determined Kade, ready to fulfill his promise to Silvia. As the elevator arrives at the green grass, he steps off, beginning to walk to the town, and so far, he is listening to the jumbled whispers of the stars, they speak about something yet he could not understand, simply moving forward into the town.

Very few greeted him on the way, some having heard from one or another as he greets back with a smile fitting his mood as he steps into the cafe, passing by one of the employees who simply nods. The cafe was currently only run by the many employees, likely Alexander and Jafk are waiting for him in their break room. Once he gets to the room, he opens the door, spotting a sleeping Jafk and a bored Alexander as he spots Kade.

"Almost on time, maybe a few minutes earlier, hm?" he said with a small chuckle as Kade nodded. "Time is a confusing thing between our worlds, best I be early" Kade responded as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him and sitting down by one of the tables.

"What is…this 'Lake Town' we'll be going to like, Alexander?" Kade asks as he sighs.

"Uh, let's see…so it is another of the artificial towns, the other two are Morning Town and…another I prefer not to mention. Lake Town is always night, thanks to tech stuff, and is covered completely in a forest full of life, both natural and man-made. Well, man-made as in made by us that wasn't present in nature. Doesn't have too many people but it lives on and protects the town from outside threats…so to hear that Living Machines have successfully penetrated the forest and directly going to the forest guardian is concerning…oh but I am sure you are curious about the…uh, Lake Children? At least, I might have some things you don’t know"

Kade chuckles and nods. "Okay maybe you are a good guesser like me, but not as good, continue"

"Of course. Lake Children, we are theorizing that they are children born in strange circumstances, blessed by the stars and are…special in some way to them. For reasons beyond us, we suspect our Timeless Schmuck wants them all…we know these because of a messenger we have ourselves, but…I would like to keep them a secret, even from you. Sorry, detective" Alexander said, and he seemed truly haunted as Kade nodded.

"Need not go further, sir, I understand…now, more about our Lake Guard child?"

"Ah, yes, uh, so Sprei Uok is suspected to be one of the Lake Children, he is one of few Tree Walkers…I say few but it is more appropriate to say he is the only Tree Walker. All of them have left so long ago, yet he is here, we do not know how he was born, how he came to be, and how he is quite powerful for a kid, but the Living Machines want him, and that is probably enough confirmation for us. Oh, and, Tree Walkers are simply humanoid living trees, to answer that '' Alexander explained as Jafk would slowly begin to awaken, but Kade continues.

"I suspect as much…so! It shouldn't be too hard, find out where the machines penetrated the forest's protection, lock it up better this time, and eliminate any other machines?" he suggests to Alexander.

"Probably easy as it sounds, reinforcing our forest should help a lot, just need to ask for some android assistants from Morning Town and we help the forest and town in what ways we can!" as the two spoke, Jafk finally woke up fully as he rubs his eye sockets with his creepily long fingers. "O-Oh, Mr. Kade is here…h-hello, sir" he said with a small nod as Kade nodded back.

"Morning, Jafk…or is it evening? I can't tell at all, BUT we are all here now, hm? And now we are to head to Lake Town soon…how do we get there again? Don't tell me we have to travel in the city again, I had enough of that…" Kade said defeatingly as Alexander shakes his head with a smile.

"Need not worry about that again, there's like only 2 elevators and one of them bring people to Polar Growth Town, the other to…somewhere else, so to access the other towns…well, it's by a tunnel we dug to all the towns. Almost all of them are kind of abandoned and broken down by now since the incident at the undisclosed town I won’t be mentioning, but not the one towards the entrance of Lake Town. It is south from here, looks like a sewer with running water, but the water is very clean and comes from Lake Town, it is how we mostly get a lot of water for things" He explains as Kade nods.

"I see…then what are we waiting for? I got my gun, ‘my’ dagger, and my wits, I am ready…for the mental and detective stuff anyways, I trust you two would do well in the physical stuff?" he said as both nod, all 3 eventually getting up as they leave the break room.

As they leave with their own bags of stuff, Alexander stays behind a little, doing a small hand gesture towards the golden eye employee. "Lisa! Molly will be the only other here to help with the social stuff, alright? I got business in Lake Town"

Lisa does a small salute at Alexander as he nods with a faint smile, patting her on the head and leaving the cafe. "The cafe will probably fine, at worst, Lisa meltdowns from 'going against her code' or something" he comments as Kade shrugs. "Sounds like it happens a lot"

"Hah, like you wouldn't believe the amount" he said with a laugh, Jafk chuckled along as they began walking towards the tunnel's entrance.

Soon enough, after getting out of town and walking through the green meadow by the little river, they arrived at the tunnel. It was…really dark inside, light didn't reach the end as winds echo from inside, crystal clear water pouring out into a river that headed towards an artificial lake.

"So this was one of many tunnels…now there is only 1 safe one, hm?" Kade asks as he stares down the tunnel.

"You got it right, Kade. Now come on, the librarians wait for us, best not leave a lady and sir impatient~" Alexander answered. He takes the lead for the trio, holding a hand out as sparks fly out before forming a small yet bright flame.

And then came the journey. Endless metal stretching onwards, yet the walk was just like walking home from the park. Water sloshes beneath their feet as the wind grows louder. Many times, they walked past blocked entrances. Fallen rocks, metal, and other materials blocked them, on purpose, the only change in directions was the linear path they followed, the water began to get a little taller as eventually…a light at the end of the tunnel! But without the dying part of seeing it.

The wind has calmed down, replaced by the sounds of the forest. Birds chirped, animals walked, soon enough running off from the little river from their sloshed steps as Alexander extinguishes the fire in his hand.

And the sounds could not prepare Kade for what he was about to see. It was a forest, a thick, deep forest, and this was artificial? All of it? Some creatures watched the trio emerge from the pipe, which was covered in vines and plantlife, practically part of nature itself.

It was the first time he has ever seen a real forest with his own eyes. And he was amazed.

"Welcome to Lake Town, Kade…we aren't exactly at the town part yet but this is part of it somewhat…Lake Town was always bigger anyways"

"A-And with it…so many spirits…" to Alexander and Kade, it was a beautiful, lush forest. But to Jafk, it was a wonderland of life and death. He raises his hands as blue water sprays out quickly, revealing the wonderland of floating creatures, carnivores and herbivores together like friends in death, but only for a moment before the water fades.

"And you just had to show it off a little, aye Jafk?" Alexander teased him as Jafk looks away with a blush…well, as far as Kade could tell.

"O-Of course…" Jafk said, as he puts a hand out to nothing, likely a spirit as Kade shrugs. "If I am dreaming again, don't wake me up again" he said jokingly as he stretched.

"Right then, we have people to interact with, where's the town part of the name?" Kade asks as Alexander points to a direction.

"About down there, come on, Mr. J, we can play with the deer later" Alexander teased as he began walking forward of them, Kade followed, and shortly after Jafk after a few more pats for the ghost animal.

And soon enough, there it was, a town, a very natural looking town. The buildings were entirely wooden and plant, the people were almost exclusively what you would see for a forest town in a magical world, like any sort of half animal like deer, centaurs, the like, and living mushrooms! Big, walking mushrooms with faces and limbs, cladded in heavy armor and armed with sharp weapons of wood, but he was not going to underestimate the forest's bounty. Especially when they let Alexander and Jafk walk by, but not Kade, blocking his way with the wooden weapons.

"He is with us, friends, do not worry" Alexander said as they took a moment to examine him before letting him through. Kade gives a small salute before walking by. “Puff Soldiers, basic protectors from the Mimy Clan. Bunch of fun guys, I’d say” Alexander said with a chuckle, Kade followed with a small groan of annoyance, and then a chuckle.

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"Wow…very, uh…natural?" Kade said as a sort of compliment to the town when he looked around. Alexander could only chuckle. "More natural than nature, I say" he responds before they continue on, walking up one of the much larger buildings in the town, wooden letters above the door make up the word 'Library'.

"Penny and Denny, hm? What should I expect?" Kade asks.

"Nothing much, Kade, just that they have a connection to each other's thoughts, and that one of them is silent, the other, really talkative." Alexander told him as Kade nodded. “How connected they must be.”

“Very connected”

“That wasn’t a question”

Alexander shrugs and opens the door fully for the other two, Jafk and Kade enter as Alexander follows behind, closing the door behind himself.

“Penny! Denny! We are here to help with the, uh, Living Machines issue going on!” Alexander shouted as Kade shushed him. “This is a library, please, respect the silence” Kade whispered as he stepped forward, Alexander shrugs more as Jafk giggles. “You’re gonna break your arms like that” he whispered as Alexander sighs and chuckles quietly. “As if they haven’t for the millionth time”

From one of the many tables, a head rose up, its eyes no longer glued to the open, red book. The head of an animal, wolf-like with goat horns out of the top, and wolf-like ears as she looks over to them, and then at Kade. And then, from behind her, a small, tiny serpent dragon rose as it looked over to them, and then…

“Huh!?” it shouted as Kade gave up immediately. “Are you two Penny and Denny?” he asks as the wolf-headed girl nods. “Yes, yes, that is us, librarians, the good kind, yes, hello, need something? Wait, let me remember…oh yeah! Machine stuff, yes, okay come over here” the dragon spoke as they did, sitting down by the table as the wolf girl continued to read.

“Well, would you look at this…another human with Knowledge, how much more will we be having, hm? Hm?” he asked Alexander as he chuckled. “Probably more, depending on the living conditions. Lots of people want to find something new, the people up there, you know? But alas, this one wasn’t accidental. Kade Wonder, a detective, came to help us when…” Alexander leans over to whisper to Denny “when he found the Lake Child, Silvia” he said.

‘WHA-” immediately Alexander’s hand covers her mouth as he sighs.

“Shut it, damnit”

“Oops. What?” Denny whispered quieter this time.

“She escaped the tower, and then the city, brave girl, I say. Our Timeless Man has 1 less child now, which leaves him at zero as far as we know, and as such, in a great state to begin our plans, but we have to deal with your Machine problem so tell me, what is the issue and what can we do to help?” Alexander explains as Denny thinks a bit, wrapping himself around Alexander’s red arm as he points his head to a direction.

“Let me be a guide, no one knows this library and forest better than I…well, except the Mimy Clan and the singular Tree Walker by the lake, but still! Me, yes, Penny, friend, will you be fine on your own?”

Penny nods as Denny rests her head on Alexander’s red arm. “Yep, yep, let’s go, let’s go, time is of the essence!” Alexander stood up, followed by Kade, though Jafk stays seated.

“I-I’ll ask around the town about things…so I’ll stay” Jafk said as Kade nods.

“Brave boy now, aren’t we?” Alexander said as he pats the top of his head. “Alright then, we’ll be back once we have location and view of the issue, be good, alright?”

Jafk nods as Kade and Alexander continue on, leaving the library.

He looks back over to Penny as he waves at her, or more like, behind her. The library was a bit empty, not much life, at least it appears so to the other two, but Jafk could see them quite well. Denizens of the dead roam the library, with them, copies of the living books, made dead for them, made by Penny.

Who he waved at was a ghastly blue Tree Walker, a rotten looking one, dead from age, a creature of tall and thin wooden body, with orange flowers around the top of its head like a crown, and the final pieces: two hollow eye holes with yellow dots in the middle, and an open, hollow mouth. Jafk walks over to the shelf the Tree Walker was stationed at, doing a small bow out of respect. “H-Hello, sir, madam or creature, m-might I ask a few questions…like…why follow us?”

The wooden humanoid could only rumble and bark (like a tree) as Jafk nods. “Ah, you wanted to help with the, uh, Lake Child, okay, um…” he pulls out a notepad from his bag and writes down everything. “May I ask for your name?”

More barks and rumbles as he nods. “A pleasure to m-meet you, Ms. Baliva, I am Jafk Nickeel, and…well…anything helpful you have concerning our Lake Child here and the Living Machines would be very, very helpful..” he asks as she nods, pointing over to a quiet spot. And so both walk to it. Penny watches them go before continuing to read her book, uninterrupted now. Finally.

-

Kade and Alexander followed Denny’s directions, going down an open forest trail before the two encountered a small camp. More Mimy Clan members, different looking ones from the big puffs he saw at the town’s gate.

Two small mushroom guards looked at the two, they had a strange hair or hat in the design of a Rounded Earthstar mushroom, and seeing Denny with them made them get out of the way as Alexander nodded, continuing on. Kade follows, looking all around, examining the different mushroom people around them.

“Could you…introduce me to them? Well, more like…just tell me their names and stuff?” Kade asks as Denny looks at him. “Of course, of course, small guys you saw, Star Soldiers, role is scout and basic guards, guarding mostly taken by Puff Soldiers,” Denny then points the end of her tail to some big guys with big, white stringy beards, like a Lion’s Mane mushroom. “Lion Soldiers, very good, strong ones…beards are also tasty when they do self-care to maintain length and donate them as food, hehe…” Kade ignores the last comment and Denny points to 3 scary looking mushroom people, all at a table with what seems like…an elf lady with deer horns.

“The 3 leading commanders of the clan, oh! And Town Mayor. Scary, tall, and lengthy fellow with a very flat cap head that looks safer is leader, Angel, very toxic toxins, but she is friendly. Lengthy and thick red one with the single yellow eye and long red fingers is Devil, second commander, strange man but kind, can paralyze even Living Machines, and the small one with the rounded cap hat head, the one that looks like a Star Soldier and Angel mix, Cappy, very sneaky, and deadly with spewing gas, they like to be tricky and do pranks but good friend” Denny explained, finishing right as they arrive. They seemed a little busy talking about something.

“Our scouts have yet to find any indicators of an open wound in the forest to attack from, and we have yet to know their pattern of appearance, being only 2 days now since. I do not underestimate Sprei but these machines are tricky things…” Devil explained to the elf as she nodded.

“Mayhaps whatever they used to penetrate the tower’s barrier is being used here too, and if we don’t adapt quickly, every town is in danger…and every city. I would rather not have our fellow cities fall so we have to find a way quickly, any reports from Vincent or Jessie?” the elf spoke as Angel shakes her head.

“Vincent answered immediately, but he isn’t much of an expert on the complexity of the Clock Tower, but he offered to send some androids to help…” Angel explained as Lisa scoffs, looking down at the desk. “I would rather not have more…machines in our forest but we’ll have no choice…and Jessie?”

“She…has yet to answer. She is still presumed missing since the attack, unfortunate considering she was the Clock Tower’s previous caretaker before he and those Living Machines came, so our only expert on the tower is still lost to us…” Angel explains again as the elven lady sighs, looking up and finally seeing the 3 visitors.

“Ah…our helpers…Alexander, Denny, it is nice to see you again…and who’s the boy?” She looks over to Kade as he smiles and does a bow.

“Kade Wonder, my fair lady, and who do I have the pleasure to meet?” he asks with such a gentle tone as Alexander hits him on the back of the head a bit. “Not now.”

“Lisa Bonedrought of the 18 Seconds Council, are you this…detective I have been hearing about a day ago?”

“Why yes I am, only the best of…well, there’s like only 4 other Private Investigating Agencies up there sooo the best of the 5, courtesy of Rook Agency!” he said so excitedly as Alexander shrugged once again. “Just go along with him. Now then…what can you tell us to help us with this problem?”

Lisa nods as she raises her hand. The trees behind her would bend unnaturally out of the way as a clear view of the lake was shown, and a small Tree Walker walking on the water gently, like he was scouting the area before the trees return to their natural state, blocking the view once more. “As said, Living Machines have somehow invaded the forest. What little tech being used here is the same as what the Clock Tower had: an impenetrable barrier, set up by another member of 18 Seconds, Jessie. An expert android, but she has been missing some time now, and as such…we do not know how they penetrated these barriers. You may have felt maybe a tingle on your way here? Likely you passing the veil, it has been tuned to deny unknown entities with malicious intents, and with it, the largest data provided by Apollo CIty, of every single species and creature that do not have natural malice in them, and because Living Machines are practically new, they weren’t supposed to be able to break through, but the fact they are breaking it not once but twice…is really concerning” Lisa explains, hints of sorrow show through her quiet, soft voice, before Angel continues for her.

“Without any useful information, we are in the dark. They want the Lake Children, the Timeless Man wants them, and that is all we know. Any Living Machine we have destroyed and captured has technology way beyond our expertise besides a few familiar old technology like radios and analog devices, and so we needed some more help from outside the forest…and that is where you 3 came in, though I see Jafk was left behind. Investigating?”

“Aye, wants to ask around the spirits, might find something useful” Alexander answers as Cappy nods.

“Of course, for very obvious reasons. For now, we watch carefully and wait patiently for the moment when it gets too much for Sprei, but for now, he is fine on his own” they say as Kade nods, thinking.

“My, my, quite a situation, though I don’t doubt his abilities, it is worrying…” Kade said as he walked in circles to think more properly.

‘Soldiers of metal, skin of stone, bones of wood. Dangerous. Ever so dangerous’ echoes of voices spoke in his head as Kade looks around a bit, his eyes meeting with one of the Star Soldiers, although…his face looks very, very strange…sunken eyes with red dots, a stiff movement pattern for his head, and no mouth to be seen, a lot different from the other soldiers. Well, because it is different.

'This was no Star Soldier, was it?'